Van Brothers

Arnold and Lee Van Winkle, the Van Brothers

The Van Brothers
Servants of Indiana Rockabilly

Kentuckians Arnold and Lee Van Winkle recorded one of rockabilly's prototype songs, "Servant of Love", although this piece of backwoods rock'n'roll and guitar magic only reached moderate popularity outside the hardcore collector's scene. In the 1950s and 1960s, the brothers waxed several fine recordings and with these became part of Indiana's country and rock'n'roll music legacy.

Although there are sources out there stating the brothers hailed from Tennessee, it is more likely their home state was East Kentucky. Their ancestors lived in the Jackson/Rockcastle/Knox Counties since the mid 19th century and by the late 1910s, the family resided in Jackson County. Lee and Arnold's father "Pappy" Powell Van Winkle was married twice; his first wife died in 1915 and left him with two young sons., Andrew and Virgil. Pappy then married Chessie Leger, who also brought two sons into the marriage. They would go on to have another six children together. Arnold was born on June 10, 1937, while Lee's birth date still remains unknown.

They came from a musical family, as their father was a fiddler and their older brother Clyde also played the guitar. By the mid 1950s, they had relocated north to the Ohio-Indiana state border region and ha begun performing as the "Van Brothers". They cut their first record in 1956, featuring "Down the Trail to Home Sweet Home" b/w "My Baby's Arms" on the one-shot Singable label (#61101). Probably located in Indiana, nothing is known about this label, which released only this very record, pressed by Rite Record Productions from nearby Cincinnati.

Arnold Van Winkle, ca. 1950s

After that, Arnold went solo for one disc in 1957 and recorded for Larry Short's Ruby label out of Hamilton, Ohio. The disc comprised "An Old Rusty Dime" and "How Many Heartaches Make a Tear" (#RU-540), produced likely at Short's own studio with the Rainbow Rhythmaires, which was probably Short's band. Both sides were co-written by Short and Norman Walton. With the latter, Arnold and Lee would work together on and off for the next years. The session produced a third track, "Looks Like a Dead End to Me", which remained unreleased, however.

Although Ruby had distributors in such near cities as Indianapolis or Cincinnati, the disc was overlooked. Eventually, Arnold and Lee began performing as the "Van Brothers" in Indiana and made contacts in the late 1950s with the Poor Boy record label, a small outfit from Richmond, Indiana, operated by country music star Wayne Raney and Jimmie Zack. Poor Boy was Raney's first venture into the record producing side of the music business. However, the Van Brothers' record for the label was also its last one issued.

For this disc, they recorded "Sweet Marie", a beautiful harmony country ballad co-written by Norman Walton and the Van Brothers, and "Servant of Love", written again by Walton. Arnold and Lee cut this session with the Gentry Brothers, a country and rock'n'roll music combo from Ohio/Kentucky, with whom the Van Winkles apparently worked constantly during the early 1960s. It was Dale Gentry's exceptional talents on the electric guitar that made this song an outstanding rockabilly performance. Other members of the group included Gary Gentry on bass and Larry Gentry on drums (although no drums are audible on the Van cuts). Wayne Raney had built a small studio in Oxford, Ohio, roughly 25 miles southeast of Richmond, which could have been the place of recording.

Released on Poor Boy #111 in December 1959, it was reviewed by Billboard the following May with "Sweet Marie" as the top side. Although it was possibly a good seller locally, it didn't move anybody outside the region. Poor Boy Records was discontinued then, so Arnold and Lee switched to Norman Walton's own label, simply named Walton Records, which he founded in 1961.

Two more records by the Van Brothers followed for Walton. One appeared in June 1962, an EP that comprised the Van Winkles' Poor Boy songs as well as two new country recordings, "Take That Lock from Your Hair" and "Too Many Women" (Walton #003). No more discs appeared until 1965, when Norman Walton released the brothers' "Uncle Jim Riggs Will" and "Lonesome Tonight for Tomorrow" on Walton #2500, both composed by Arnold Van Winkle. This became the Van Brothers final release.

Cash Box June 9, 1962, religious review

It is reported that Arnold and Lee had a fall-out at some point and stopped talking with each other. For the next years, musical activities ceased. There was an EP by Arnold on the Dayton, Ohio, based Jalyn label in 1968 featuring sacred material. Arnold had married Rosella Rowland in 1966 and founded a family with her. Arnold's wife as well as his children were musically inclined, too, and by the 1980s, they had founded a family gospel group. They recorded at Delbert Barker's Central studio in Middletown, Ohio, releasing one 45rpm record and a whole album.

Arnold Van Winkle remained in the Richmond area, where he most likely still resides. His wife Rosella passed away in 2019. The whereabouts of Lee Van Winkle are unknown to me.

In the past 40 plus years, the brothers' recordings have been reissued numerous times, especially "Servant of Love". Cees Klop included several of their recordings on his "The Rocking Masters" LP (White Label #8811) in 1979. The same year, the Redwood label released "Servant of Love" on their "Rockabilly Country" LP. German Eagle Records released a full album of Van Brothers cuts in 1992 entitled "Seven-Up & Whiskey...the Servant of Love", which collects several songs of unknown origin but excludes the brothers' Singable disc and Arnold Van Winkle's solo recordings.

Discography

Singles
Singable 61101: The Van Brothers with the Moderns - Down the Trail to Home Sweet Home / My Baby's Arms (1956)

Ruby RU 540: Arnold Van Winkle / The Rainbow Rhythmaires - An Old Rusty Dime / How Many Heartaches Make a Tear (1957)

Poor Boy 45-111: Van Brothers - Sweet Marie / Servant of Love (Dec. 1959)

Walton EP 003: Norman Walton / Van Brothers - Take That Lock from Your Hair / Van Brothers - Too Many Women / Van Bros. and Walton - Sweet Marie / Norman Walton / Van Brothers - Servant of Love (June 1962)

Walton 2500: Arnold & Lee, the Van Brothers - Lonesome Tonight for Tomorrow / Uncle Jim Riggs Will (1965)

Jalyn 327: Arnold Van Winkle and the Gospel Meltones - Old Brush Arbor / I See a Bridge / Arnold Van Winkle and Doyle Crawford with Paul Fox & Kelly Caudill - Way Up on the Mountain / I'm Ready to Go Home (1968)

Central 80114: Van Winkle Family (A. Van Winkle & G.F. Tanner) - With Him I Never Shall Die / Come Morning (1980)

LPs
Central No.#: The Van Winkle Family: "Sings Country Gospel" (1980s)
Eagle 309014: The Van Brothers: "Seven-Up & Whiskey...the Servant of Love" (1992)

Note: A few recordings of the Eagle LP are from unidentified sources. These include "Seven-Up & Whiskey" (two versions), "I Wish It", and "John Henry Junior", which were likely recordings from the late 1950s or early 1960s. "What a Little Kiss Can Do" and "Stop Look and Listen" were originally released on Walton by Jimmy Walls in 1965.

Sources
• 45cat entries for Van Brothers and Arnold Van Winkle
• Rockin' Country Style entries for Van Brothers and Arnold Van Winkle 
• Find a Grave entry for Rosella Van Winkle and Clyde Van Winkle
• Rosella Van Winkle obituary
• Slipcue.com
• Indiana Music Makers
• Gospel Jubilee entry
• Discogs
• Bopping.org (Internet Archive)